Week Beginning May 2nd 2017…

Attack of the Jellyfish…

Jellyfish creatures were swimming around in the Gibbon room as moulded blocks of ice with colourful pipe cleaner tentacles and big googly eyes. The Gibbons loved prodding and poking them to move along the tray. They tried to pull the pipe cleaners out of the jellyfish and watched as the ice creatures started to melt. Parents will be happy to know that the Gibbons have been practising ‘washing up’ and enjoying splashing the bubbles and squeezing the soapy water from the sponges. More bubbles and water landed on the floor and each other than in the cups, but it was all great fun to participate. Carrying on with the water theme this week, the small world area featured other sea creatures. Under the sea with sand and shells, the Gibbons pointed out and recognised the different marine animals. It’s not all been deep sea diving though as peppers, potatoes and oranges were used to create lovely art patterns. Using the stalks of the peppers to paint with instead of paintbrushes (although I think they enjoyed trying to eat them more them paint with them), they finished them off with a dash of squeezed orange juice. That’s a new one.

Playdough Pizzas anyone?…

Learning to be safe with knives, the Baboons have been carefully cutting slices of play dough and creating pizza toppings for their play dough pizzas. Pepperoni and cheese was a favourite topping, but the they did mix it up with some ham and pineapple. In the dance room, the Baboons were very imaginative with the heuristic items as quite a few of them were using items for hair-dressing and jewellery making. The Baboons have been loving getting dressed up both indoors and out. Inside they’ve been getting all geared up for allotment trips and sports sessions. They’ve even thought about their lunch baskets and high vis jackets. In the role-play cabin, the children have been getting very good at putting their own items on. In the Maths patch, the Baboons have been enjoying the geoboards, creating squares, kites and rectangles. Showing an interest in one of the staff member’s breakfast granola bar, next week they will be making their very own granola bars. This week, they’ve been observing the various processes for making them on the tablets. In the book area, they’ve been focusing on families and home life, talking about each others’ similarities and differences.

Flower Power and Hungry Foxes…

There were a few magical visits to Nature Kids this week. The Gorillas went exploring for more blooming flowers that they could draw and smell, and even had a run in with a fox who came sniffing around looking to eat our lovely lunch sandwiches Ebone made for them. The fox at the allotment caused a big stir with the Nature Kids, and they all were very excited to come back and tell their friends about the animal that was interested in their lunch! The children had lots of fun watering with the hose and now have a new giant strawberry bed with strawberries replanted by Elisha and Louise. Their flower garden is being prepared with a lovely apple tree as a focal point and we are preparing an area which will be stacked with small raised beds for the children to take responsibility for their own plants. They have also be planting edible nasturtiums in the hanging baskets in the outdoor classroom.  With all new spring colour paints stocked up in the nursery, the Gorillas had an assortment of colours to choose from to paint their spring flowers. The Gorillas spoke about what foxes and other animals that you can find at the allotment and what they normally eat. The most popular job the Gorillas have wanted to be this week are builders and they’ve been dressing up in builders’ hats and constructing different houses with wooden blocks and stickle bricks. Not only did they design and build houses for themselves, but they also built homes for the dinosaurs over in the Small World, constructing tall houses for the Diplodocus for their long necks. Identifying letters from books and their name cards, the children have been typing their names on the computers as well as their friends’ names. From feeling happy while playing in the garden with their friends to sad and upset when being woken up after nap time, feelings and emotions change all the time in the Gorilla room, and with our new emotions boards, the Gorillas have been sticking their personalised peg onto the board that best represents their mood. The boards have been useful in helping children identify their emotions and they also enjoy choosing from happy, sad, nervous, and angry. The Gorillas and the rest of the children throughout the nursery are placing their pegs on happy/excited boards ready for the weekend hopefully full of sunshine.